Threading feature for roller type presser foot

ABSTRACT

The foot includes a pair of forwardly projecting support tines having coaxially openings therein for receiving and journaling short live axles at the opposite ends of a presser roller. One of the supports has a horizontally convex inner surface which intersects and forms a cleft with a surface portion of rounded end on the near axle. The roller is easily installed and removed by exerting a force on it causing the rounded end of the axle to slide along said curved support surface. A vertical channel is formed in the support surface immediately endwise of the roller. A thread from a needle positioned behind the roller may be brought forwardly over the roller, placed into said cleft and then moved downwardly and swung outwardly below the support, and then be moved rearwardly of the foot. The thread is cammed rearwardly through the cleft and into the channel and then out from the channel and around the rounded end of said axle into a position behind the roller.

[54] THREADING FEATURE FOR ROLLER ABSTRACT TYPE PRESSER FOOT [76] Inventor: Robert B. Howell, 3132 Rocky Point Road, Bremerton, Wash. 98310 Aug. 13, 1971 The foot includes a pair of forwardly projecting support tines having coaxially openings therein for receiving and journaling short live axles at the opposite ends [22] Filed:

of a presser roller. One of the supports has a horizon- [21] Appl. No.: 171,532 tally convex inner surface which intersects and forms a cleft with a surface portion of rounded end on the near axle. The roller is easily installed and removed by exerting a force on it causing the rounded end of the axle to slide along said curved support surface. A vertical channel is formed in the support surface imi 5 mw 1 O 1 5 W 5 5 m .3 an 12 [52] U5. [51] Int. [58] Field of Search......................

mediately endwise of the roller. A thread from a needle positioned behind the roller may be brought forwardly over the roller, placed into said cleft and then [56] References Cited moved downwardly and swung outwardly below the support, and then be moved rearwardly of the foot. 112/235 The thread is cammed rearwardly through the cleft 2/235 and into the channel and then out from the channel and around the rounded end of said axle into a position behind the roller.

Primary Examiner lordan Franklin Assistant ExaminerPeter Nerbun Attorney-Graybeal, Barnard, Uhlir & Hughes 9 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures THREADING FEATURE FOR ROLLER TYPE PRESSER FOOT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a roller type presser foot, and in particular to such a foot constructed so that the needle thread can be easily moved between one end of a forward presser roller and the support for such end, around such one end of the roller, and into a needle region rearwardly of the roller, and to a construction enabling easy installation and removal of the roller from its mounting means.

2. Description of the Prior Art Typical examples of known roller type presser feet are shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,513,343, granted July 4, 1950, to Amelia Maxson; by U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,192, granted Mar. 18, 1969, to Domenick C. Pingitore et al., and by my own prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,511,200, granted May 12, 1970. I know of no prior patents or any other prior art teaching or literature which relates to a manner of easily threading a roller type of presser foot.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, the support for one end of a presser roller located forwardly of a needle is provided with a horizontally curved lead in surface and an axle socket, and the near end of the roller is provided with a live axle which is received by and journaled in said socket. Such axle includes a rounded end surface which intersects and forms a generally vertically extending cleft with the curved inner surface of said support. The end supports for the roller are forwardly projecting tines on a body portion of a foot component. These tines are flexible enough so that they will spring apart when the rounded axle end of the roller is moved horizontally through an arc and along the curved inner surface of the support. All of these features combine to provide for easy installation and removal of the roller horizontally forwardly out from its supports. The axle receiving opening makes a substantially right angle intersection with the inner surface of the support both above and below the axle so that shoulders exist on the support both above and below the axle for resisting removal of the roller when pressed upon in the vertical direction.

Also according to the invention, a substantially vertical channel is formed in the inner surface of the support at a location endwise of the roller and contiguous the rounded end of the axle. The rounded end of the axle is of such a length and the channel is of such a depth that a thread extending from the needle located rearwardly of the roller can be brought over the roller and placed into the cleft, then swung laterally outwardly below the support, and then moved rearwardly through the cleft, into the channel, and then from the channel around the end of the axle into the space rearwardly of the roller, by a single, continuous, easy motion. It is common sewing practice to move the thread behind the presser roller so as to correctly position the thread before start of the sewing operation.

Additional features of the invention will become apparent from the description of an illustrated preferred embodiment which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view looking from above and towards the left side and front end of one embodiment of the invention, showing a presser foot component in full line and showing the lower portion of a mounting shank in broken line;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the foot component;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the roller supporting front end portion of the foot component, showing the position of the needle thread at the start of the threading operation made possible by the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the thread advanced into the vertical support recess at the end of the roller axle, and showing a portion of the support in section;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 3 and 4, but showing the thread advanced past the axle end portion of the roller, and showing portions of both supports in section;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front end elevational view of the left end portion ofthe foot component, showing the thread substantially in the position it occupies in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but showing the thread substantially in the position it occupies in FIG. 4, and also showing a portion of the left mounting tine in vertical section, the section being taken substantially at the valley of. a vertical channel formed in the inner surface of the mounting tine in the region of the axle receiving hole;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7, but showing the thread substantially in the position it occupies in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view looking towards the left front corner of the foot component; and

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but showing a modified form of opening or socket for receiving the left end roller axle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The presser foot assembly comprises a foot component 10 and a mounting shank 12. The foot component 10 includes a transverse slidebar 14 which is received in, and forms a slide joint with, a transverse slideway 16 formed at the lower end of the mounting shank 12. Reference is made to my U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,151, granted Sept. 19, 1967, for a thorough description of the slide joint, its purpose, its manner of operation, and the manner in which the mounting shank 12 is secured to the presser bar of a sewing machine, and the relationship of the foot component with respect to the material on which it acts.

The present invention relates to a type of presser foot having a roller 18 at its forward end. By way of typical and therefore nonlimitive example, a roller of a type having a central guide portion for zipper teeth chains is illustrated. However, the invention is applicable to all types of presser rollers. Relatively wide, cylindrical presser surfaces 20 are provided on opposite sides of the zipper tooth guide avenues. As in the case of the presser roller 21 of the presser foot shown by the aforementioned US. Pat. No. 3,433,192, the presser surfaces 20 of my roller 18 rest on the material traveling through the needle region and exert a downward force on the material being sewed, urging it against an advancing mechanism (not shown) located below the material.

A pair of mounting tines 22, 22, extend forwardly in opposed parallelism at the forward end of the foot component 10. The presser roller 18 is received between these tines 22, 24, and a needle receiving region 26 is located rearwardly of the central portion of the roller 18. During the sewing operation the needle N reciprocates up and down within the region 26.

A pair of axially aligned openings or sockets 28, 30 are provided in the tines 22, 24 for receiving and journaling short live axles or trunions 32, 34, respectively, at the ends of roller 18. In the illustrated embodiment the axle 32 is slightly longer than the axle 34 and is adapted to be the first axle set within its socket and the last axle removed from its socket during installation and removal of the roller 18. As shown by FIG. 3, the extreme end portion of axle 34 substantially follows an arcuate path 36 during installation and removal of the roller 18. The inner surface or check of tine 24 is horizontally curved at 38 and this curve 38 extends inwardly substantially to the innermost horizontal boundary of the socket 30. When the axle 32 of roller 18 is in place and the opposite end is being swung horizontally inwardly the rounded outer end of axle 34 contacts and slides along the curved lead in surface 38 until the axle 34 snaps into place within the socket 30. The foot component is made from a suitable structural plastic which provides some flexibility in the tines 22, 24 so that they will spring apart slightly when the rounded end of axle 34 is pressing against the curved surface 38. The tines 22, 24 have the ability to flex outwardly laterally of the foot component 10 because they are relatively narrow where they join the main part of the body 10. However, they are very deep where they join the main body 10 and they offer stiff resistance to a force tending to make them roll sideways. Also, the sockets 28, 30 make substantially right angle corners with the inner side surfaces of the tines 22, 24 in the vertical direction (see FIGS. 6-8). Hence, there is no curved surface present for camming the rounded end of axle 34 in and out of the socket 32 when the roller 18 is forced in the vertical direction. The substantially right angle intersection of the surfaces in question also means that the tines must be sprung apart a further amount to permit installation or removal of the roller 18 by forcing it vertically. Any such vertical force would tend to make at least the tine 24 tend to roll, and as explained above, the tine 24 has good resistance to rolling. Hence, owing to its construction the roller 18 is at least not easily removable by a vertical force. Thus, a substantial downward force can be exerted from the tines 22, 24 to the roller 18 via its axles 32, 34, and from the presser surfaces 20 of the roller to the material being sewed. The necessary downward presser force can be applied on the material without worry that it will cause the roller 18 to pop upwardly out of engagement by the sockets 28, 30.

According to the invention, a vertical V-cut or groove 40 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is provided in the inner side face or cheek of the tine 24. As best shown by FIG. 3,

the valley region of the groove 40 extends into the tine 24 past the rounded end of the axle 34. As also best shown by FIG. 3, when the axle 34 is in place within socket 30 the curved surface 38 intersects a portion of the rounded end of axle 34 and forms a vertically extending cleft therewith.

According to the invention, the thread T is threaded into the needle region 26 of the foot component 10 in the following manner:

With the needle raised, the thread T below the needle N is placed between the surface 38 of tine 24 and the side surface 42 of the roller 18, and the thread T is moved downwardly and laterally outwardly below support 24 and is drawn rearwardly of the foot component 10 in the direction of the arrow 44 (FIG. 3), to place the thread T in the above-described cleft defined by and between the rounded end surface of axle 34 and the adjacent portion of curved cheek surface 38. Further movement of the thread T in the direction of arrow 44 (FIG. 4) causes the thread to slide along the curved end surface of axle 34 until it is wholly within the vertical groove 40. This movement of the thread T is aided rather than prevented by the inner cheek surface 38. Once within the groove 40 the thread T is easily moved all the way past the rounded end of axle 34 into the needle region 26 by an additional movement in the direction of arrow 34. The movement of the thread T from a position above the roller 10 and outside of the needle region 26 (FIG. 1) to a position below the foot component and in the needle region 26 is a single continuous operation which is easily performed by the operator and only small forces are required. The cooperating surfaces at the end of axle 32, on the inner side of tine 24, and through and along the groove 40 all cooperate to cam or move the thread T in the desired direction. Prior to sewing the foot component is slid sideways to center the needle N into its sewing position, shown in broken line in FIG. 8.

As should be readily evident, the features which make the roller 18 easily installable into and removable from the sockets 28, 30, and the features which make the thread T readily movable past the roller 18, complement each other and in no way does one set of the features interfere with the function of the other set of features.

FIG. 10 relates to a modified form of foot component 10' in which the socket opening 30 is replaced by a downwardly opening socket having an entrance portion defined between points A-A which is slightly narrower than the full diameter of the axle 34. In this embodiment the roller 18 is installed and removed in the direction of the slot, between the points A-A. A vertical V-groove and a generally horizontally curved lead in surface similar to cheek surface 38 may be added to the inner side of this tine 24 so that threading may be accomplished in the manner described above.

Having fully described typical embodiments of the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is defined in the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. A presser foot of a type including a pair of laterally spaced apart supports, a presser roller extending between said supports, and axle-socket means at each end of the roller mounting said roller onto said supports for rotation therebetween, said axle-socket means comprising a live axle at one end of said roller, said axle having a rounded end, and a receiving socket in the support for such axle, such support also including an inner lead in surface which forms a cleft with a portion of said rounded end, said inner surface including a channel therein extending in substantially the same direction as said cleft and opening against a portion of the rounded end of the axle, such axle being short enough and said channel being deep enough that the axle is normally retained within the opening therefor, but a thread may be brought from a location above the roller and placed into said cleft and be brought under said support, then easily moved rearwardly across the rounded end of the axle into the channel, and then moved further rearwardly from said channel and said channel and said cleft are generally vertically oriented.

5. A presser foot according to claim 4, wherein said channel is of such a depth that it extends into the support beyond the normal position of the rounded end of the axle.

6. A presser foot according to claim 5, wherein the inner lead in surface of said support extends laterally outwardly as it extends forwardly of the presser foot from the region of said cleft.

7. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein said supports are flexible enough to spring apart slightly so that the roller can be removed by it being pressed upon near the end thereof close to said axle in a direction generally along the inner surface of said support, and during installation and removal of the roller the rounded end of said axle slides along said inner lead in surface.

8. A presser foot according to claim 7, wherein the opening for said axle intersects the inner surface of the support at substantially a right angle both above and below the axle, to form shoulders above and below the axle for resisting easy movement of the roller out from said opening when it is pressed upon in the vertical direction.

9. A presser foot of the type including a pair of laterally spaced apart supports a presser roller between said supports having pivot and swing ends, and axlesocket means at each end of the roller, mounting said roller onto said supports for rotation therebetween, said axle-socket means including an axle at the swing end of the roller having a rounded end, and with the support for such axle including an inner lead in surface which slopes laterally outwardly as it extends forwardly of the presser foot from the vicinity of the axle, said supports being flexible enough to spring apart slightly to permit installation and removal of the roller when the pivot end of the roller is on its support and the swing end is ressed upon in a direction causin sliding of the roun ed end of the swing end axle a ong the inner lead in surface of its support. 

1. A presser foot of a type including a pair of laterally spaced apart supports, a presser roller extending between said supports, and axle-socket means at each end of the roller mounting said roller onto said supports for rotation therebetween, said axlesocket means comprising a live axle at one end of said roller, said axle having a rounded end, and a receiving socket in the support for such axle, such support also including an inner lead in surface which forms a cleft with a portion of said rounded end, said inner surface including a channel therein extending in substantially the same direction as said cleft and opening against a portion of the rounded end of the axle, such axle being short enough and said channel being deep enough that the axle is normally retained within the opening therefor, but a thread may be brought from a location above the roller and placed into said cleft and be brought under said support, then easily moved rearwardly across the rounded end of the axle into the channel, and then moved further rearwardly from said channel and around such rounded end until the thread is located below the presser foot and rearwardly of said roller.
 2. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein said channel is of such a depth that it extends into the support beyond the normal position of the rounded end of the axle.
 3. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein the inner lead in surface of said support extends laterally outwardly as it extends forwardly of the presser foot from the region of said cleft.
 4. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein both said channel and said cleft are generally vertically oriented.
 5. A presser foot according to claim 4, wherein said channel is of such a depth that it extends into the support beyond the normal position of the rounded end of the axle.
 6. A presser foot according to claim 5, wherein the inner lead in surface of said support extends laterally outwardly as it extends forwardly of the presser foot from the region of said cleft.
 7. A presser foot according to claim 1, wherein said supports are flexible enough to spring apart slightly so that the roller can be removed by it being pressed upon near the end thereof close to said axle in a direction generally along the inner surface of said support, and during installation and removal of the roller the rounded end of said axle slides along said inner lead in surface.
 8. A presser foot according to claim 7, wherein the opening for said axle intersects the inner surface of the support at substantially a right angle both above and below the axle, to form shoulders above and below the axle for resisting easy movement of the roller out from said opening when it is pressed upon in the vertical direction.
 9. A presser foot of the type including a pair of laterally spaced apart supports a presser roller between said supports having pivot and swing ends, and axle-socket means at each end of the roller, mounting said roller onto said supports for rotation therebetween, said axle-socket means including an axle at the swing end of the roller having a rounded end, and with the support for such axle including an inner lead in surface which slopes laterally outwardly as it extends forwardly of the presser foot from the vicinity of the axle, said supports being flexible enough to spring apart slightly to permit installation and removal of the roller when the pivot end of the roller is on its support and the swing end is pressed upon in a direction causing sliding of the rounded end of the swing end axle along the inner lead in surface of its support. 